In shortBudget 20 to 25 minutes for the climb: about 8 km of road and roughly 13 switchbacks between the town and the turnstiles, with buses starting to move at 5:30 a.m. Consettur is the sole concessionaire on the route, at a government-regulated fare of about US$24 round trip for foreign visitors. Buy the seat before the morning of your visit, either online or at the authorised booth on Avenida Hermanos Ayar, and the afternoon you arrive in town is the right moment to do it.
8 kmRoad to the gate
20–25 minRide each way
5:30 a.m.First departure
about US$24Round trip, foreign visitors
How to get from Aguas Calientes to Machu Picchu
One road climbs from the town to the entrance gate, and the shuttle is the only vehicle on it. The distance is about 8 km, folded into roughly 13 hairpin bends, and the ride takes 20 to 25 minutes each way. Because Consettur holds the concession alone, there is no second company to shop around, and the round-trip fare for foreign visitors sits at about US$24 by government regulation.
The first bus of the day pulls out at 5:30 a.m. Sleeping in Aguas Calientes rather than Cusco is what buys you that departure, and the arithmetic is simple: 20 to 25 minutes of road between the town and the turnstiles means an entry hour of 06:00 or 07:00 inside the morning band of 06:00 to 12:00 is comfortable, while a van leaving Cusco at 05:20 cannot get you there in time for it.
Last departures, uphill and downhill, are not published on any officially accessible page. Ask at the counter when you buy, and confirm the evening situation before you commit to a late entry hour.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|
| Road length, town to gate | about 8 km |
|---|
| Hairpin bends | roughly 13 |
|---|
| Travel time | 20 to 25 minutes |
|---|
| First departure | 5:30 a.m. |
|---|
| Round-trip fare, foreign visitors | about US$24, regulated |
|---|
| Operators on the route | one concessionaire, Consettur |
|---|
Consettur bus tickets: where and when to buy them
Two channels sell the shuttle: the authorised Consettur booth on Avenida Hermanos Ayar in Aguas Calientes, and the concessionaire's own advance sale online. Nothing else is a valid source. The online address has moved since the route was first sold over the web, and the old Consettur link now redirects to a newer domain, so a saved bookmark that bounces you somewhere unfamiliar is behaving as expected rather than failing.
Nothing is sold in the morning boarding queue. Walk to the booth on the afternoon you arrive, once your bag is down, and come away with both directions already paid for. The clock on your entrance ticket runs while you climb the road and while you stand in a sales line, and standing in the line is the one avoidable mistake on this leg.
The bus ticket and the citadel entrance are two different purchases. The entrance comes only from the Ministry of Culture's official portal or an authorised counter, carries your full name and ID document number, and cannot be renamed or moved to another date.
The morning queue and the hour printed on your entrance ticket
A line forms in town well before 5:30 a.m., mostly people holding the earliest entry hours. Buses load and leave in sequence as they fill, so the queue keeps moving instead of waiting on a timetable. Your bus ticket carries no departure hour; the enforced hour is the one printed on your citadel entrance.
That hour comes with a grace period of 30 minutes outside high season and 45 minutes within it, and staff at the turnstiles stop admitting people once it runs out. Work backwards from the hour on your ticket: 20 to 25 minutes on the road, the time you spend queueing in town, then the document check at the turnstiles, where staff match your ID against the name on the entrance. Holding a 06:00 hour and starting to think about the bus at 06:00 is how people lose a ticket that cannot be rescheduled.
A packaged day out of Cusco produces a different morning. The published timetable for one such trip runs from a 05:20 pickup to a hotel return around 20:40, with site entry between 11:00 and 14:00, so the shuttle leg falls in the middle of the busiest hours on a day capped at 5,600 visitors in high season and 4,500 on other dates. Sleep in Aguas Calientes if you can, and take the earliest hour on sale.
A night in town, then the first buses
This two-day trip puts you in a private room in Aguas Calientes with the shuttle buses included, which is what turns an early printed entry hour into one you can actually keep.
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Walking up the footpath instead of riding
The Hiram Bingham footpath is the alternative for the climb: roughly 1,700 steps, about 400 m of vertical gain, 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes for a fit hiker. It is steep and humid, and the shuttle road cuts across it in several places.
Ride up and walk down if you want the footpath at all. Climbing on foot sets a strenuous hour against a ticket tied to one printed entry time, and it delivers you to the turnstiles tired, with a ceiling of 2 hours 30 minutes inside on routes 2-A and 2-B and no re-entry allowed. Walk it on the way back instead, when the gate check and the circuit are behind you and nothing is timed.
Walking either leg, keep the day pack under 40 x 35 x 20 cm, because anything larger stays outside the citadel, and wear soft or rubber soles: hard-soled shoes and heels are not admitted.
Coming back down after the visit
The descent is the same 8 km of bends, the same 20 to 25 minutes. The downhill queue thickens when the classic circuits empty, because routes 2-A and 2-B turn their groups out after 2 hours 30 minutes inside and several hundred people reach the stop together. Your round-trip ticket covers that leg, which is reason enough to buy both directions in town.
Build slack into the rest of the day. Train boarding closes 30 minutes before departure, and the luggage store at the Machu Picchu station in Aguas Calientes is open 05:00 to 22:00 every day at no charge, so a bag left there in the morning is no reason to hurry the descent. Day-tour operators warn that train times are indicative, which is worth remembering while you wait for a bus behind several hundred other people.
Which trips put the bus ticket in the price
If you would rather not handle the booth, the queue and the round-trip ticket yourself, three trips on this site cover the shuttle up and down along with the rail legs and the entrance.
Machu Picchu Tour Full Day by Train bundles the ride up to the gate and back with the train in both directions, expert guides, pickup and drop-off and the entrance with its circuit subject to availability: 16 hours, from $419, rated 5.0 ★ (321 reviews). The operator asks for roughly five months of notice when you book, and a cancellation made at least 24 hours ahead of departure is refunded in full.
For the night in town that makes an early entry hour workable, the 2-Day Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu Tour from Cusco by Train runs 2 days from $449, rated 4.8 ★ (1294 reviews), with a private room in Aguas Calientes, the shuttle buses to the citadel and Circuit 2 priority subject to Ministry availability. For your own pace on the road and inside the walls, the Machu Picchu Private Full-Day Tour from Cusco with All-Inclusive covers the Consettur bus up and down plus two hours of private guiding, 12 to 16 hours from $339, rated 4.9 ★ (150 reviews).
Questions people ask
Is the shuttle bus included in a train ticket?
Not in a plain train fare: PeruRail states that the Machu Picchu entrance is not included in the train ticket, and the shuttle is a separate purchase. One fare does cover it, Inca Rail's All-Inclusive, which wraps the Consettur bus together with the entry ticket and a guided tour of the citadel. Check what your own fare covers before you queue at the booth.
Does the bus ticket have a fixed departure time?
No. Buses load and leave in sequence from the stop in town, so the ticket ties you to no particular hour. What is enforced is the hour printed on your citadel entrance: 30 minutes of tolerance in low season, 45 in high season, with your document checked against it at the turnstiles.
Can I buy the bus ticket in Cusco before I travel?
The authorised channels are the Consettur booth on Avenida Hermanos Ayar in Aguas Calientes and the concessionaire's online sale in advance. The online address has changed and the former Consettur link redirects to a newer domain. Nothing is sold in the morning boarding queue, so plan on the booth the afternoon before or an online purchase.
Does the sanctuary conservation fee cover the shuttle?
No. Since 1 May 2026 SERNANP charges a separate sanctuary amount on top of the Ministry of Culture ticket, S/11 for foreign visitors and S/5 for Peruvians, and the shuttle fare of about US$24 round trip is separate again. That conservation amount is waived only for people who arrive at the citadel on foot along the Inca Trail network, who never touch the road.
How long does the walk up take compared with the bus?
Reckon on 20 to 25 minutes if you ride and on 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes if you climb, since the footpath puts roughly 1,700 steps and about 400 m of ascent under your feet. Take the bus up, especially with an early printed hour, and keep the steps for the descent.
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